On some measures, inequality in the UK is twice as great as in the most equal of the rich market democracies. Whether it should be reduced should no longer be a politically contentious issue. Wide income differences are detrimental to the vast majority of the population. As well as harming physical and mental health, inequality reduces social cohesion and increases a wide range of social problems – including violence, educational failure, drug abuse, and teenage birth rates.

The question of how to narrow the gap between rich and poor has two components: decreasing differences in gross earnings by reducing top incomes; and redistributing through taxes and benefits. Dealing with top incomes means tackling the incredible arrogance of the bonus culture by increasing all forms of employee representation and workplace democracy. Redistribution will depend first, on ensuring that the debts incurred in bailing out the banks are repaid through more progressive taxation; and second, that when it comes to reigning in carbon emissions, we recognise that the rich are the worst offenders. Rather than cutting services to the needy, money would then be saved by reducing need itself.